In today’s NHL rumors rundown, after being placed on waivers by the Edmonton Oilers, Alex Chiasson has cleared. What’s next for the veteran forward? Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche will have to go the next little while without one of their key forwards in Nathan MacKinnon. Will they struggle or can the depth of the team keep them a favorite this season? The New York Rangers are saying goodbye to Tony DeAngelo, the Montreal Canadiens are not “showcasing” Victor Mete, and the Toronto Maple Leafs could potentially consider moving Travis Dermott.
Rangers Are Done with DeAngelo
At a press conference Monday evening, Rangers GM Jeff Gorton made it clear that DeAngelo “has played his last game for the Rangers.” As per a report by Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, Gorton believes DeAngelo wasn’t able to get over being a healthy scratch earlier in the season and his attitude and emotional stability snowballed ever since.
The organization had decided before the rumored incident of him getting into a scuffle with goaltender Alexandar Georgiev that if anything else happened with DeAngelo, that would be the final straw. Gorton said, “I told him if his name came up in anything at all that he would be on waivers… “I felt like I had to stay true to my word, the organization’s word.”
For now, DeAngelo has been assigned to the team’s taxi squad but it is believed he will not be included in further team practices or activities. As per Mark Fischer of the New York Post, the Rangers will search for a trade but because none of the other 30 clubs claimed him off waivers, it’s hard to envision another team wanting to trade for his $4.8 million contract and take on the blueliner’s personal baggage.
It doesn’t appear the Rangers are looking to void his new deal.
Chiasson Clears Waivers
After being placed on waivers Monday, Chiasson has gone unclaimed and will rejoin the Oilers. Things really won’t change all that much for the team, other than the fact the hockey club will have gained some flexibility via their taxi squad.
Chiasson is still likely to play a number of games for the team this season and will continue to be a bottom-six forward getting spot duty on the power play. He’ll just come in an out of the lineup a bit more often and can be moved without needing to clear waivers each time. It is believed Chiasson will actually be in the lineup tonight for the Oilers against the Ottawa Senators.
MacKinnnon Week-to-Week With Injury
The Avalanche got bad news this week as MacKinnon — who scored 14 points in the team’s first ten games and generated 41 shots on goal — will be out on a week-to-week basis. According to Kyle Fredrickson of The Denver Post, the injury suffered against the Minnesota Wild will see him sit for the foreseeable future.
This comes on the heels of other key players going down and the injuries for the hockey club are starting to add up. Pavel Francouz, Erik Johnson, Devon Toews, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Matt Calvert are also all out “week-to-week,” according to head coach Jared Bednar.
Canadiens Not Showcasing Mete
As per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, the fact that the Canadiens debuted Mete after it became public knowledge the player wanted to be traded was not a showcase to encourage other teams to take a look at the defenseman. Canadiens coach Claude Julien said the team has always been trying to find the right opportunity to get Mete into the lineup and his getting inserted was about not wanting him to sit too long.
All that said, it doesn’t sound like each side’s stance has changed here. The Canadiens do not want to trade the player and hurt their blue line depth and Mete would still prefer to be moved.
Could Maple Leafs Move Travis Dermott?
Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan of ESPN took some time to discuss which NHL players could be traded next after Patrik Laine was swapped for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Among the players Kaplan named, she believed Dermott could be moved by the Maple Leafs.
We reported about a week ago that Jonas Siegel of The Athletic had brought up Dermott’s name in trade talk and Kaplan seems to agree, noting the defenseman is on a cheap contract and the Maple Leafs have a logjam on their blue line. Kaplan listed the Pittsburgh Penguins as a team to watch here but she made these comments before Jim Rutherford resigned his position as Penguins’ GM. Pittsburgh might be a bit more hesitant to make moves now.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston was on the Staff & Graph podcast last week and said that he knows teams have called about Dermott but he doesn’t believe the Leafs are all that willing to part with the young defenceman.
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